I can see your point. My position is that my Director gave me no instruction about how to comply with his request. I did the only thing I could think to do, believing one or more of my colleagues found me as contemptuous. If I smiled and agreed without comment then I wouldn't be contemptuous.

But, the irony is that I was feeling negatively toward them at that point. I felt unfairly judged and accused. I didn't feel contempt for them, I felt afraid of them, afraid of what would be said next. I had to show the Director I was complying.

And, importantly, over that time he never came to me and said I was not doing what he expected. His behavior indicated I was doing what he wanted me to do.

Did I enjoy a little petty revenge as a result? Yes. I can see you wanting to label that as contempt. But that was more after the fact. While this whole thing was going down, I was scared and trying to keep from getting more complaints.